YWCA’s MotherLove program helps teen parents succeed

The YWCA of Asheville’s MotherLove program works with pregnant and parenting teens to help them graduate from high school and pursue higher education or vocational training while being good parents.

Holly Gillespie, front left, coordinator of the YWCA of Asheville’s MotherLove program to support pregnant and parenting high-school students, celebrates with young moms and their babies at a pre-graduation gathering Saturday at the YWCA.
(Photo:
John Coutlakis
,
jcoutlakis@citizen-times.com
)

ASHEVILLE – Teenage girls facing an unplanned pregnancy may feel frightened and alone, fearful that they will face dead-end lives as their once-bright futures are derailed by the birth of a child.

With the YWCA of Asheville’s MotherLove program, young moms quickly learn that they are not alone, and that their futures are still bright. MotherLove will be with them during their pregnancies and as they parent their new babies, with the ultimate goal of graduating from high school and pursuing higher education or vocational training.

MotherLove takes a multipronged approach to helping pregnant and parenting teens stay in school, access post-graduate schooling, develop the skills and knowledge they need to become strong parents, and delay another teen pregnancy.

The program’s two full-time staff members and one contract case manager provide one-on-one counseling, home visits, monthly lunch gatherings at the girls’ schools, and evening group meetings with guest speakers, along with crisis intervention.

MotherLove is making a difference. For the past 10 years, all participants have graduated from high school or advanced to the next grade. And, partly because of MotherLove’s programming, Buncombe County’s teen pregnancy rate has dropped from 40 pregnancies per 1,000 girls in 2010 to 39.3 in 2011 and 35.4 in 2012.

The program is capped at 30 participants at any given time, although more funding would allow more teens to enroll. Fifteen of the current teen moms are about to graduate from high school, including one who is valedictorian of her class, and 12 plan to attend college in the fall.

“We know that the education level of a mother is the best predictor of their child’s future success, yet only 36 percent of pregnant or parenting students graduate from high school in North Carolina,” said YWCA executive director Beth Maczka.

“The YWCA’s MotherLove program has a stellar track record for helping parenting students beat the odds, graduate and set their sights on college,” she said. “Our vision is to expand our reach to serve all pregnant and parenting students in Buncombe County and help all young women make better choices for their future educational and economic success.”

MotherLove’s success depends on community support, which currently includes funding from the North Carolina Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, United Way, Landwirth Family Foundation, Preyer Family Foundation, city of Asheville and TD Bank.

“Unfortunately, we are entering into our next fiscal year with a $42,000 deficit that we urgently need to fill,” Maczka said.

Keys to success

Laura McCreary, guidance counselor at Erwin High School, said the services MotherLove offers are “priceless.”

“This program is key to their (teen parents) success in high school; MotherLove adds a layer of support that wasn’t there before, and they help (teen parents) navigate the added responsibilities they now have,” she said.

For example, McCreary said, when a young mom — or the occasional dad enrolled in the program — misses several days of classes because of a sick baby who can’t be taken to day care, Motherlove becomes an advocate.

“MotherLove is in touch with the schools to say this is the situation, this is what’s going on with this student; they become an extra pair of eyes, watching for these obstacles, like absences, that can sometimes get out of control for a high school student,” McCreary said.

“We can triage quickly and get supports in place so it doesn’t become an obstacle that’s too overwhelming.”

Other important components of the program are education about preventing additional unplanned pregnancies, and about infant care and child development.

“Just talking about infant illnesses, what to look for in infants’ health, anything from health and wellness to housing and child care — MotherLove is educating them about those resources and what to look for,” McCreary said. “I can’t say enough about the value of the educational piece they provide.”

Meg Turner, principal of Owen High School, said it’s essential for pregnant or parenting teens to have support rather than negative judgment for their situations if they are to remain in school.

“My job is not to cast judgment; for me, it’s strictly about supporting them in their education, and MotherLove allows some personalized attention for our teen moms and dads that is judgment-free and is clearly about helping support them to stay in school,” Turner said.

“Everybody wins when kids graduate from high school, whether they are parents or not.”

Wake-up calls

In spite of the life-changing challenges that face teen moms and dads who are still navigating high school, many become better students and are more motivated after they become parents, Turner and McCreary said.

“Teen moms and teen dads get a big wake-up call, and most of them have to grow up really fast, and you do see them realize how focused they have to be because now they’re balancing not only their own life but the life of someone else,” Turner said.

“Regular high school kids think they have it tough until they really understand the challenges that a teen mom or teen dad have — that’s tough,” she said.

“But I have seen kids respond really, really well to those challenges and not only graduate from high school, but go on to be successful in college and careers.”

McCreary said it’s common for pregnant or parenting teens to become academically motivated by their child. “I often see my kids’ grades go up instead of down, because they have a new sense of purpose — they’re not just working for themselves anymore,” she said.

While school officials offer support to keep teen parents on the track toward graduation, their connections are basically limited to school-day hours, McCreary said. MotherLove coordinator Holly Gillespie and other staff are available to bridge the gaps.

“The time (MotherLove) can give to these young ladies outside school hours is priceless,” she said. “If a student is having a crisis after hours … for someone like Holly to be there with them during those times, I can’t put into words how priceless that is.”

Moms on a mission

MotherLove participant Jocelyn Franks, who will graduate in June from Owen High with a 4.1 grade point average and a 1-year-old son, Jasper, plans to enter UNC Asheville in the spring to major in early childhood education after working for one semester to save tuition money and explore scholarships and student loans.

“Even though I have a kid and I’m only 18, my life’s not over,” Franks said. “I know a lot of girls feel like that sometimes, like, ‘I’m pretty much ruined for the rest of my life,’ but I see this as a huge blessing, and I feel like it makes me be a better person.

“Jasper inspires me to do a lot more with my life than I think I would have before,” she said. “And even though I’ve had setbacks and struggles getting to where I am, I’m figuring it all out so that I can have a bright future, and so Jasper can, too.”

MotherLove has provided important support through those struggles, Franks said.

“The home visits are really helpful, and they give you a lot of emotional help. And we can hang out with each other and our babies and talk about how life’s going, and about being a mom, and it makes you feel less alone.”

Gillespie, she said, “has become like one of my best friends in the entire world,” and she knows they’ll be in touch in the future.

“Even though you’re technically out of the program the fall after you graduate, you still have their phone numbers, and they’re super about helping, and they’re still there for you,” Franks said.

Nancy Herrera Mendoza’s 9-month-old son, Fernando, was born a week before her senior year began, and she, too, has struggled to make it through her final year of high school.

But her baby will be watching when she graduates in June, and she is committed to eventually becoming a registered nurse and “making him proud of me.”

Herrera Mendoza said she has been motivated by MotherLove and her school guidance counselor, McCreary, as well as her son.

“When I go to (group) meetings, I feel better, like, ‘Oh, these girls are my age, they understand me a little bit, they know how life is now,’ and I feel comfortable around them,” she said. “My mentor and I will talk about our days, and Holly does home visits to see how I’m doing.”

Her baby has been “a true blessing in my life, because I know if it weren’t for Fernando, whatever obstacles would come into my life to stop me from pursuing my career, I would know I could quit,” Herrera Mendoza said.

“But now I know that I can’t quit; I have to do this for Fernando, because one day I’m going to prove to him that you can do anything if you really want to,” she said. “He’s my inspiration, and every day there’s that little smile that makes me go on with it.”

GET INVOLVED

• MotherLove is in need of donations for its “Baby Bucks” incentive program to encourage healthy behaviors for teen parents. Needed are school supplies, diapers, baby clothes, baby toys, baby books, home safety items like child locks and baby gates, strollers and infant carriers. Donations to help expand the MotherLove program also are needed.

• MotherLove will launch a volunteer mentor program in the fall allowing community members to work with pregnant or parenting teens still in high school. To learn more, contact volunteer coordinator Angel Redmond at

angel.redmond@

ywcaofavl.org.

• The YWCA holds a one-hour “Empower Hour” twice monthly to introduce community members to its programming. The next is 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. June 3. RSVP requested, to